China Southern, one of the world’s biggest airlines, had waited eight years to get a foothold at Heathrow. “They were amazed when I told them we had no slots to offer,” said Mr Matthews.

He maintained that Britain had suffered a considerable loss of trade and jobs because of the pressures on Heathrow and the benefits had been reaped by continental rivals.

Mr Matthews said: “There are 75 long haul connections at Heathrow that can’t be served elsewhere in the country. If you squeeze business out of Heathrow it won’t pop up at Gatwick. It will pop up at Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.”

He added: “Amsterdam is eating our lunch.”

Mr Wingate felt that the London environment would benefit from expansion at Gatwick and Stansted and said the mayor of London’s proposed Thames estuary airport was not a “deliverable solution” because it would cost between £50bn-£80bn.

Nick Barton, Stansted chief executive, said his airport had enough capacity to cope with another 18m-19m passengers a year but needed improved transport links.